sabato 30 giugno 2012

** BRAZIL. 6180, June 30 at 0459 past 0500, RNA transmits a big humbuzz and no programming; same on // 11780. 6180 carrier is wavering with flutter too. Harold Seller reports both were still just buzz at 0618 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL. 15191.24 approx., June 30 at 0129, poor signal with pop music, no doubt R. Inconfidência off-frequency again. At 0518 it`s audible with music in the absence of Bata, now split right between 15191 and 15192 at 15191.5 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 30 before 1300: none heard. Propagation very degraded; nothing but weakened North American signals (including Cuba) audible on the 15 MHz band, little on 13 or 17. WWV reported:

** COLOMBIA. 14950, June 30 at 0125, Salem Stereo still hasn`t come back yet. Good luck on finding Rioblanco, Tolima. Checking some atlases, I don`t see it on the maps nor in the indices. Must be quite small (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. Slipshod RadioCuba operators at the 0500 transition in frequencies and languages June 30: At 0503, 6010 and 6125 are on with dead air, while 6000 is still on in English along with 6050 and 6060. Then 6000 cuts off, and 6125 starts modulating with a squeal, but it`s not the same transmitter which was on 6000.

13740, June 30 at 1309, big open carrier with hi-pitched tone, best audible by off-tuning, then tone off but some hum and crackle continue. S9+22 signal equivalent to RHC 13780, and obviously the CRI English relay transmitter tuning up for the 14-16 broadcast. Off the air at 1332 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. 15540, June 29 at 1831, R. Kuwait is again in proper language, English during brief newscast; fair signal. At 2057 still the English service with Western pop music; 2058.5 sign-off still giving imaginary 05-08 UT English on 15110, and wrong frequency for the 18-21, ``11990``.

Back-timed so military band NA would end just in time for 2100 timesignal, switch to Arabic news theme which was cut off before news could begin this time. I sort of hope the s/off with all that years-out-of-date info is canned, as that would be slightly less reprehensible than some clueless announcer rereading it live every night; but still inexcusable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NETHERLANDS [non]. Since I had heard the 0500 UT June 29 RNW finale on 6165 Bonaire, I did not try to listen to later repeats other than to check out the frequencies for one last time.

17605, June 29 at 1829, Vatican relay is fair to good.15495, June 29 at 2053, poor signal via Vatican as they are wrapping up; as usual, nothing from France on 11615. At 2055, a unison ``good-bye!``, Carillon is, 2056 NA, which now sounds so sad, 2057* off. This was not exactly the way the 0500 broadcast ended, and I read reports from others that the last 5 minutes changed from one transmission to another. Wish we had known that was going to happen.

One thing I should add about the content as heard after 0500: someone blamed the new right-wing government for RNW`s virtual demise.

The [almost] final Spanish broadcast via Bonaire 6165 after 0100: I taped most of it and haven`t had a chance to listen yet, but seemed to be a studio party including `live` music by a Cuban staffer, quite different from the English version which compiled bits of previous produxions along with some recorded comments from ex-staffers. Spanish just stopped at 0157, no IS, no NA, and open carrier stayed on past 0205.

From July 2, Spanish is to continue from RN, only to serve Cubans deprived of a free press, M-F 1100-1157, 320 degrees from Bonaire on 9895. Most of the previous programs have been terminated, altho a few remain on the web only, while SW will carry the newscast `La Matinal`, to be reconfigured at the end of the A-12 season, and presumably from somewhere other than Bonaire (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PRIDNESTROVYE. 17605, June 29 at 1300, YFR in Burmese is still via KCH, Dan Elyea at Okeechobee confirms, despite HFCC registration as originally planned site Tashkent, Uzbekistan; he says there are no other substitutions currently (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1623 monitoring: confirmed on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB, UT Saturday June 30 from 0130:30; sufficient reception holding its own against the summer noise level.

** U S A. 7555, June 30 at 0508 and still at 1154, WEWN Spanish is gone again from this frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9277 approx., the FM spurblob from WTJC 9370, June 30 at 0510 has varied a couple kHz from previous night 9275; likewise the match around 9463, i.e. 93 instead of 95 kHz offset. Following my previous log, Brian Alexander in PA was hearing these spurs ``giving good reception in the FM mode``, at 2350, measured on 9274.88 and 9464.88, i.e. exactly 95.00 kHz above and below 9469.88, which is always off-frequency. I wonder if they have anything to do with subcarriers as on the broadcast FM band at similar offsets, except they are in the AM mode. Just more evidence that the WTJC transmitter (home-made?) is extremely faulty (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 6165, June 30 at 0458, weak music, making me wonder if Chad is back? 6165 is now totally free of Bonaire! Maybe Zambia is still propagating, and then there is 0430-0500 NHK Russian via Lithuania listed. Some talk after 0500 I could not confirm as French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

venerdì 29 giugno 2012

** CANADA. After getting lots of MEXICO [q.v.] earlier in the day, my antenna is still aimed south when at 0251 UT June 29 some channel 2 video briefly locks in with a map of Canada, and SALE. Assuming this is not about Mexican shoes (``Mexico walks on Canada``), I rotate to north where weak signals are better.

0316 on 2, weather maps fade in with temps in the 20s, including Brandon, so I know it`s my regular CKND-TV-2, the Minnedosa, Manitoba, relayer of Winnipeg where presumably they have to make do with DTV only. 0329 newscast is concluding with GLOBAL bug in LR inside a rectangle. 0339 fade in and out with E-T, i.e. `Entertainment Tonight Canada`, which matches the TVGuide.ca schedule for CKND, and the news before it is called `Prime News`, to be followed at 0400-0430 by `News Final` -- I guess the latter is national? Signal remains weak and steady, mostly without audio, the MUF between 56 and 59 MHz. Something about Canada in the lower-left. BTW, altho you can get to other international listings from the US TV Guide site, you can`t get to Canada, where you have to use postal codes to reach local listings, a pain.

Turned on TV next morning with antenna still north, and at 1442, ch 2 signal fades in: it`s a text display too fuzzy to read, something you don`t expect to see on broadcast television. What station would be doing that? Audio is just a tone. No, it`s not local cable leakage here.

1444, fade to another station, I think, in English, religious interview with phone abottom 1.866.273.4444 and something in lower left with the figure 100. That Googles right away to the Crossroads Christian Communications prayer line, and TV Guide matches for 9:30 am in Winnipeg, so it`s still/again CKND-TV-2, with the show ``100 Huntley Street``. Fades out before 1500. Nothing further by 1755 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 29, before 1300:11500, fair at 1255; none in the 12s13920, good at 125414700, good at 125414950, good at 1254: no good for Salem Stereo returning: see COLOMBIA15555, good at 124316100, very good at 124316920, fair at 124316980, poor at 1243; none in the 17s

After 1300:15485, mainly noise jammer at 1306, het on hi side, but traces of FD15495, propeller noise at 1325, moved from 15485, definitely with Firedrake, het plus15565, very good and clear at 1325, ex-1555 before 1300(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [and non]. 21720, June 29 at 0605, the OSOB is in Chinese, and with lite CCI; per Aoki, RFA in Chinese, 250 kW, 309 degrees via TINIAN this hour only, sounded like this was on top, over some jamming. Always enjoy 21 MHz openings in the nightmiddle. R Australia is often audible after 05 on 21725, but not tonight, supposedly on until 07 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 14950, June 29 at 0214, no sign of Salem Stereo. But it is expected to come back! Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, has been in touch with the station in Rioblanco, Tolima, writing us on June 28:

``Glenn, They have been off the air for a few days for some minor transmitter adjustments. Thanks to Torolf Johnsson's audio file featuring the station ID and a local ad, which is precisely the one you published online, I was able to nail down the QTH as well as two useful phone numbers. Without further ado I got in touch with them via the phone, and subsequently by email. As a result, Torolf has gotten his well-deserved QSL, for which he is very pleased. I will publish a write-up on how I solved this "mystery" in an upcoming issue of SWB. There will be pics and a station logo as well.

The following info might be of interest:

The SW operation is purposeful, the result of "popular demand". The license for their 5-year-old 106.5 FM outlet was not renewed and so they started live transmissions on the web. Many people complained that only people with a pc would benefit from the station's programming. It was then decided that Salem Stéreo would test a SW channel and apply for a SW license if there was a popular response. From what I am hearing, this is indeed the case. The antenna is on amountain-top on the outskirts of Rioblanco and the power was referred to as "I do not know, but not too many watts". "It is wonderful that the signal despite this can travel so far". The SW signal has not been on the air for more than 10 days.``

It would be advisable to QSY away from a Firedrake frequency, maybe not a problem there in the evenings, but in the mornings, as heard again here at 1254 June 29. Rioblanco is not really near Pasto, my first misleading clue but at least pinning it on Colombia. Pasto is in the SW corner of the country, while Rioblanco is in the west-central, Andes, somewhere between Cali and Bogotá (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. Sporadic E analog TV DX opening June 28 in UT, continued:

1528 on 3, XHP with tv3 bugs, also twitter abottom mentioning Puebla1553 on 5, net-5 with toon, steady video, some audio1555 on 4, studio show

(I was out having the car serviced most of afternoon, unfortunately, but was able to explore more cable TV channels than I get at home)

UT June 29:0007 on 97.3, Spanish with talk about fútbol, breaking into stereo; RDS icon flickers but not enough signal for RDS to display

0010 on 93.5, some Spanish here briefly

0020 on 93.7, surpassing KSPI Stillwater, Spanish ad mentions ``Universidad Autónoma``, where? They are so named everywhere in Mexico. Enough signal to capture static RDS: LA MEJOR. Google hits all go to Aguascalientes; http://www.lamejor.com.mx/aguascalientes/there are Mejores all over the country, but any others on 93.7? No, only XHAGT Aguascalientes, 56.7 kW per Cantú

[BTW local translator 93.1 was off the air, helpful to open up at least 3 channels for DX. The 88-92 band is so crammed here now that it`s hard for any DX to get thru; did hear some SS TV audio on 87.75]

** NETHERLANDS [non]. Last Show from RNW, UT June 29 via BONAIRE 6165: too much competition at 0200 and 0300, so settled down to listen to and record the 0500 repeat (doing so on webcast would be a betrayal of our shortwave heritage). Nostalgic bits of previous produxions, closed before 0600 with carillon IS and national anthem.

One bit of good news: they plan to maintain their audio archive indefinitely and urge us to listen to programs there, use them for instruxion, etc.

On behalf of Harry van Vugt I asked Andy Sennitt, ex-RNW whether the Concertgebouw concerts would continue on the web? He found out: Yes, thru 2012, but after that they will have to be produced by something other than RNW in order to continue, as yet not known.

The Last Show is being repeated at 1800 on 17605 Vatican which may be audible in NAm; 1900 and 2000, until RNW English is turned off permanently at 2057* UT June 29, when the frequencies will be 6065-Wertachtal, 7425-Madagascar, 11615-France, 15495-Vatican.

A special last-broadcast QSL is being offered for SINPO reports to P. O. Box 222, 1200 JG Hilversum, The Netherlands, or letters @ rnw.nl

From July 2, only two RNW SW broadcasts remain on the HFCC schedule, both via BONAIRE:M-F 0930-1000 6020 Dutch to Caribbean (but will it be RNW or domestic relay?); and if so, why is it aimed due south?? and:M-F 1100-1157 9895 Spanish at 320 degrees. This is explicitly for countries ``lacking press freedom``, naming Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico (Mexico????). Doing so will make it a target for Cuban JAMMING! What a shame if this only remaining broadcast meet such a fate. Maybe they`ll counter by reactivating the other two Bonaire transmitters.

According to RNW`s Spanish website, final show in that language would occur live at 1330-1430 Friday June 29 (or 1400-1500? Conflicting info), not on the air then but live video. Well, I couldn`t find any video link, but the live audio was nothing special, some other program ending at 1400, then switching to `Europarada ` in Portuguese, which has been totally off SW for years, and the web version is now closing too:

** NIGERIA [and non]. 15120, June 29 at 0556, VON is finally on and audible, having last been heard here June 15, altho there was an open carrier June 20. Good signal level but undermodulated with some hum, YLs conversing with laughter, poorly miked and heavily accented, almost impossible to understand, but mentioned ``Augustine``, ``born-again`` and ``evangelism``. Outro by somewhat more readable studio announceress called her an actress-evangelist. At 0559 I could barely hear CRI theme music underneath: scheduled to collide with VON`s entire English transmission 0500-0700, 322 degrees from Beijing site in Chinese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TAIWAN [non]. 9955, June 29 at 0213, PCJ Media `Happy Station` special 2-hour tribute to almost defunct RNW, via WRMI: heard from 0200 on webcast, but only wall-of-noise jamming on 9955, surprise2. Keith Perron said last week that a second frequency from a secret site would be announced a few days before but never followed up. Certainly could have used one, tnx to Arnie`s jammers. First 10 minutes of show on webcast said nothing about another frequency, so I guess it did not eventuate. Anyhow, each hour may now be downloaded or listened to via http://www.pcjmedia.com/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** TURKEY. 15450, June 29 at 1241, VOT going from `Review of the Turkish Press` to `The Balkan Agenda` on dialog between Serbia and Kosovo. S9+15, much better signal than has been providing in past month, often JBA at best. This is 500 kW, 310 degrees from Emirler for W Europe but also USward. At 1305-1320 enjoyed Turkish music fill, then multi-lingual ID fill, very brief headlines, IS a couple times and off at 1324* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1623 monitoring: confirmed on WWRB 5050 webcast, UT Friday June 29 starting at 0331+ after a two-minute-and-five-second very respectful pause following the South Carolina preacher who was over by 0329, Amen & Amen. For over the first minute there was noise on the line, then a quieter period before WOR playback started.

** U S A. 9275, June 29 at 0550, very distorted FMy blob of fair strength; by slope-detexion, tuning a bit to the side, I can hear some gospel music which is soon matching 9370 WTJC, so a minus 95 kHz spur from them. 9370 itself sounds OK except for usual undermodulation. Also audible a matching +95 blob around 9465. Fortunately nothing to QRM there at the moment, but WTJC is 24 hours and plenty of broadcasts are on 9465 elsewhen. As for 9275, Aoki shows only Star-Star number station from Taiwan on 9276 at some other hours. These are new spur frequencies from WTJC, having previously appeared at numerous other spots within at least 100 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [non]. 17535, June 29 at 1246 traditional S Asian music, then announcement mentioning Bangla, address with P O Box in Dhaka, YL talk; 1248 with some English terms inserted, ``Institute of Medicine``, ``Agriculture Organisation``; 1251 vocal music of small men`s choir then joined by women along with traditional instruments; 1256 YL announcement; 1258 classical music accompanying Adventist World Radio mention ID, cut off in progress at 1259:10*. SINPO 25443. I was taking detailed notes hoping this would turn out to be one of the about to go off temporary Sri Lanka relays, for a special QSL. But no, it`s via Wertachtal, GERMANY. Never mind (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [non]. 17605, June 29 at 1259, tones on and off, a few notes of BaBcoCk music IS, 1300 YFR theme and opening Burmese, including English slogan as ``The sound of the new life``; good signal, too good for listed Tashkent, I continue to think, so instead the temporary substitute site Grigoriopol, Pridnestrovye = Kishinov, Moldova, which WYFR previously confirmed. HFCC continues to show TAC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

giovedì 28 giugno 2012

** ANTARCTICA. 15476, June 28 at 1327, no signal from LRA36, in my roughly monthly Thursday chex in case it ever come back. Note: a previous non-log of this published in DSWCI SW News as if I had heard it, has not been corrected despite my request to do so (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 9555, June 28 at 0537, RCI IS with French and English IDs alternating is playing after the closedown at 0528 of the Voice of Vietnam relay. Perhaps for old times` sake? Very good signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 28, circa 1230:11500, very poor at 123113920, fair at 1229; none in the 12s14600, poor at 122814700, poor at 122815445, poor at 122415545, poor at 123615900, poor at 122415970, poor at 122416100, JBA at 1228; none in the 17s

Circa 1330:11500, very poor at 132213920, fair-good at 132214600, fair at 132214700, fair-good at 132215485, poor at 132515565, fair at 132515755, very poor at 132516100, good at 132816920, poor at 132816980, very poor at 1328(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COSTA RICA. 9630, June 28 at 0536 one of the biggest signals on the band is missing, REE relay which normally runs until 0600* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. 15540, June 27 at 1833, R. Kuwait is really in English today during main newscast, about, who else, government honcho Sheikh al-Sabah; at 2009 in rock music, while 17550 was in Arabic. Both with good, improved signals (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. Sporadic E analog TVDX, UT June 28:1443, ch 2 fades in from south with net-4 `f` bug lower-right in news magazine, briefly snow-free; XHY Mérida? 1505 `Matutino Express`. SIPSE-2 live UStreaming is ``off air`` so no comparison possible1452, signs of CCI, video up to ch 5 video1458, on 4, toon briefly locks in, so net-5?1501, on 3, tv3 bug in UR, i.e. XHP Puebla; with almost-zero beat bars much like we get from the BCN clash, but definitely not from west.1515, on 3, Universidad Autónoma de Puebla ad after IFE PSAsOpening continues maybe building as I close this report(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 27, before 0500:17450, very good at 044916100, very poor at 0452; no others found lower

After 1200:15435, fair-good until 1214*

Before 1300, eleven: where`s the other one?11500, very poor at 1242; none in the 10s12800, poor at 124213920, fair at 124113970, good at 124114700, fair at 124215555, good at 124415940, very good at 1244 with flutter16920, very good at 124416980, very good at 124416100, fair at 124617450, very poor at 1246; none in the 18s

** FRANCE [and non]. 13780, June 26 at 1957, some vocal music of uncertain origin, no announcements until 5+1 timesignal and off at 2000*. The signal was about 0.5 second late compared to WWV one minute later. Meanwhile, I was noting a SAH of about 7 Hz with another carrier. HFCC and Aoki show the two both scheduled on 13780 until 2000 are R. Free Asia in Chinese via Tajikistan, and RFI in French, 155 degrees from Issoudun, which I assume is the primary one I was getting. Of course, there would also be ChiCom jamming on frequency.

Different subaudible heterodyne ranges require different methods of calculating, lacking any precise instrumentation. In this range, I watch the seconds ticking by on my digital watch, and count to myself matching the fades, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 over and over, and if this stays in synch that`s the separation. For me this is practical only up to 10 or 12; then it gets too difficult. If they were a little closer I could have counted the fades in a 15-second period and multiplied by 4 for how many per minute, and divided by 60 for the Hz. Or any other fraxion of a minute with appropriate multipliers, altho counting for a whole minute would be most accurate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. More anomalies from R. Kuwait: 15540, June 26 at 1953, English frequency is again in Qur`an, then Arabic talk, 2001 discussion in Arabic, and with 17550 now on the air too, I find it in a *different* Arabic service. They had always been // before if 15540 was not in English; 17550 seems like news headlines, stinger, but soon back to Qur`an, then traditional music with lots of drumming at 2035.

At this time, 2035, 15540 had Qur`an discussion, and for a change did *not* go back to English for headlines at 2050-2053; before 2100 this one was back in Qur`an, still not // 17550, and stayed on very late until cut off at 2115:20*.

WRTH 2012 page 257 has confusing info about all the different domestic programs and their hours, apparently two different ones with Qur`an, but evidently the other ones also include some Qur`an. It would be nice if some Arabic speaker would listen and sort this out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MEXICO. Some more sporadic E analog TV DX June 26, UT:2115 on 2, note some weak video fading in from south2132, it`s a toon like Spongebob, probably net-52145, signals increase with CCI on 2 and also on 42145, peaks at ch 5 with brief video and audio in Spanish, nothing IDed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** SPAIN [non]. 11880, June 27 at 1240, REE via COSTA RICA in Castilian instead of the weekday Basque semihour: it`s sporadically missing for reasons unknown. Interview about medicinal plants. First noticed under Japan on much weaker // 11815. No signals direct from Spain audible to compare, in case Cariari lost satellite feed and had to substitute (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

mercoledì 27 giugno 2012

** ARGENTINA. 11710.76, approx., June 26 at 0200, RAE is signing on English with fair and fluttery signal, off-frequency as always but fortunately nothing to het it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. 6020, June 26 at 1215, R. Ustralia is back to normal, in AM here, DRM on 5990-5995-6000, contrary to yesterday at this hour when 6020 was off and 5995 was in AM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** BRAZIL [and non]. 6180, June 26 at 0156, RNA is reactivated here with loud music causing heavy splash upon unfortunate neighbour 6185 XEPPM, which without that would have been listenable with sufficient modulation. RNA also VG at 0524 with more lively music designed to keep Amazonians awake; why? We may confidently expect RNA to be gone again unpredictably (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 14950, one more check for Salem Stereo relay, June 26 at 0155, nothing heard. No, I will not keep reporting non-loggings, but will keep checking from time to time. You never know when out-of-band-scanning will produce another such treasure (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, June 26 at 0512, no signal from R. Africa, while R. Dabanga was propagating well from Madagascar on 15400. Is anyone still hearing R. Africa at any time? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** INDONESIA. 9526-, June 26 at 1250, VOI carrier detected, but very weak and no modulation. Since it`s Tuesday, and last week Ron Howard confirmed they were still doing `Exotic Indonesia` with RRI Banjarmasin, I condescended to go to the webcast in order to hear it at all. Live linx are right on homepage http://www.voi.co.id and came up promptly at 1302 in audio-only version (is there really video from studios on the other one?), and heard back-and-forth between Jak and Banj, the latter with hum on the feed, and everything kept hiccuping, and crashing the flash player – either stopping or disappearing completely. Restarted several times until it would not cooperate at all. Even tried the mobile link which wanted to open a Real Player, but that would not connect either.

Listening to VOI online is just as frustrating as on SW, but at least you can hear something intermittently. One more problem: very heavy accents from the announcers made them hard to understand even when the audio was working. Yet kudos to VOI for plowing on with dignified attempts at English broad/webcasts even under such daunting circumstances (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** JAPAN [non]. 6110, June 26 at 0524, NHK World R. Japan still on via Sackville, with folk tale about a child-rearing ghost. Also noticed the only other English relay still on the 6120 air around 1215 as it struggled against ever-increasing day-path absorption (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9560, June 26 at *0159, RCI IS and IDs in French and English a few times, 0200 KBS World Radio opening in Spanish. Altho the station name must always be in English, this time it was pronounced with a Spanish accent.

Re missing English at 0230-0300 on 9560: I confess to not having tried to hear this for a long time until searching out Sackville relays. I think it was canceled long ago, not in WRTH update, nor HFCC A-12, nor own schedule:http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/about/about_time.htmThere is still an hour of English at 0200-0300 on 9580 direct to S America, which is useless in N America with CRI Chinese via Cuba (and I`d think back radiation would also mess it up in S America) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** PERU. 6173.9, June 26 at 0204 I notice a significant het upon V. of Vietnam still via Canada, 6175.0, no doubt R. Tawantinsuyo, Cusco. This is exactly the off-frequency just reported for it independently by Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, in Chasqui DX, and as he spells it: ``6173.90, R. Tawuantisuyo, Cusco, 30/05 2320-2340`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7555, June 26 at 0203, no signal from KJES on the 0100-0230 schedule. The robokids are often missing for weeks at a time and no one cares, eventually to reshow, but eventually it may crash forever (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 7506v, June 26 at 0203, no signal from WRNO Worldwide. Richard Lewis says their Facebook page claims they will be back on air circa July 1, but we`ll believe it if we ever hear it. Mañana, mañana, mañana (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 88.7, KRZA Alamosa CO/Taos NM, I often listen to webcast for the weekday 1430 UT features; June 26 before 1500 they announce that their ``antenna is down`` and may not be back on air until later in July, so webcasting only. Not sure if bilingual Glenda means it is literally on the ground, or just off the air, perhaps due to wildfires? Site is on San Antonio mountain, 10908 feet, just south of the CO/NM border, near US 285. This will not be helpful for their current fund drive. They still legally announce several translator frequencies but I suppose they cannot be fed either. No details on http://www.krza.org --- just

``Currently KRZA cannot be heard on a regular radio, but we can be heard online. Click the "Listen Live Now!" button on top of this page. Our technicians are aware of the problem and are assessing the issue.Thank you for your patience!`` Glenda hinted that people should not leave the Live365 stream running if they are not really listening, due to limited capacity.

Still heard Jim Hightower at 1506. Under normal conditions, they often have problems getting NPR news to work at 1501, etc., or miss Jim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN [non]. 13730, June 26 at 1213, VR concluding `World News` about Ukraine, mixing in activities of bishops, which no other station would bother with; poor signal via Sackville, CANADA as frequencies this high are much attenuated, and hardly anything on 15 MHz yet. Again mentioned about no longer being on SW or MW from July 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

martedì 26 giugno 2012

** ALASKA. 9655, June 25 at 1300, good signal from KNLS IS, 1302 sign-on in Chinese with website http://www.smzg.org pronounced in, what else? English! But some other word than ``dot``. That site`s transmission schedule presented in Englishhttp://www.smzg.org/Schedule_in_English.htmand in Chinese http://www.smzg.org/Schedule_in_Chinese.htmboth still claim this 13-14 broadcast in Chinese is on 9920! 1303 on to pop song in English. Anyhow now in the clear with CRI/Sackville defunct [de-funked?] on 9650 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** AUSTRALIA. 5995, June 25 at 1227, RA with interesting item on language diversity concluding `Asia-Pacific` show; good signal here, surely Shepparton, but missing from 6020 which is supposed to be on, and 5995 is supposed to be in DRM from Brandon. Maybe a sign of further schedule disruptions if RA is finally about to get a series of DRM frequencies activated from Shep? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. THE LAST DAY for RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL, June 24:

15330, at 2005 `Maple Leaf Mailbag` sounds awfully familiar; yes, introduced as the ``Pentultimate`` edition, references to June 17 and going to present the final edition a week later. RCI is playing back last week`s show, depriving Terry Haig of his farewell program!! Was it pulled by management as too ``emotional``?? I listened incredulously to the entire hour, again, in case something new was edited in, but it was all the same as last week, ending with song ``Get a Haircut, Get a Real Job``. Then Terry`s final words were ``You people are a total gas. Thank you, thank you, thank you``, into canned closing, and 15330 cut off the air while // 15235 switched to French.

Then checked the website, but found audio of the same last-week show of June 17 is now presented as the ``last show`` of June 24!

I asked Wojtek Gwiazda of the RCI Action Committee about this and he replied: ``Hi Glenn, I don't know what happened. I very seriously doubt the programme was censored. I'll check in with Terry tomorrow. If something screwed up, I want him to at least have a quiet night of sleep tonight. He will be devastated to know the last programme was not broadcast. I may be wrong, but there are a number of steps before a program is ready for broadcast, enough steps for something to go wrong.``

15455, June 24 at 2100, ``último programa em português de RCI,`` `Canadá Direto`, // stronger 17860. As far as staff were concerned, it was all over June 22, since the pattern had been to play this same half hour nine times each weekend, three each on Fri, Sat and Sun, and there would be two more June 24 at 2200 and 2300.

15455, June 24 at 2302, now it`s Spanish with finale of mailbag `El Castor Mensajero` = ``The Messenger Beaver`` which loses something in translation. This also on weaker 11990, along with Portuguese on 13760 were really the final, final, RCI SW transmissions. At 2328 inserted a bit of French and English, including ``the last of all RCI shortwave programs``. But it was not the last language! Inexplicably at 2329.5 to 2330.5* we heard Arabic! Plugged their website, opened program till cut off. I suppose this is what followed on a satellite feed which didn`t belong on SW, never any Arabic scheduled at this hour.

What about other relays via Sackville?

CBC Northern Quebec: 9625 is still on at 0202 June 25, CBC news in English, as usual blasted away by Spain/Costa Rica 9630 but at least in analog instead of DRM as before 0200.

NHK World Radio Japan: 5960 for Japanese from 0200 June 25 is missing; instead Qur`an with weak signal, still at 0203, presumably Kuwait. However, NHK must have come on late, as it`s there at 0256 and beyond. The 0500-0529 English still exists too, thankfully, very good at 0513. 11655, 1259 June 25, NHK IS starting the bihour in Japanese. Bill Patalon III also confirms English still at 1200 on 6120. So NHK relays are lasting longer, until ---?

Voice of Vietnam: 6175 is still going including English from 0100, altho when I tune in at 0114 it`s Vietnamese, soon voiced-over. Also for the rest of the evening, plus 9555 after 0430 at 0519 check with happy kidsongs. How much longer? But:

CRI is gone from all these previously scheduled and heard broadcasts: 0100 on 9790, 0300 on 9560, 0400 on 6020, 6080, 0500 on 6020, 6190, 1300 on 9650, 15260. Also missing: Cantonese after 1200 on 11850. I`m rather surprised at this, since SAC was the #1 way for CRI to cover N America. These transmissions have still not been deleted fromhttp://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=CRIshowing effective until Oct 28.

That leaves inferior signals from Cuba, Albania, Spain. If they wanted to, plenty of frequencies could also reach us intentionally direct from China. Maybe CRI thinx the increasing numbers of relays on MW stations in the US are sufficient? Hardly!

KBS World Radio: 9560, at 0200 June 25, ID pronounced in English, then opening Spanish with constant audio artifacts as always from them. I assumed the 0230 English would follow, but it`s not there at 0253 check, following inquiry from Mick Delmage who was not hearing that broadcast at 0235, nor the previous night; how come?

9650 at 1232 check, the KBSWR 1200 English broadcast is still going, and so is the 1400 Korean at 1407 check. Jean-Michel Aubier confirmed the 0600 Spanish is still going too on 6045.

Vatican Radio: The 0250 English broadcast is still there with VG signals on 9610, 7305. Did not awaken in time June 25 to check the 1130-1214 on 13730. VR is making their own cuts as of July 1, so these may only last one more week (via BONAIRE 15470 also still on in Spanish at 0200).

There is no more RCI to be heard on SW, except: still a few RCI IS and IDs accompanying relays of other stations: 0529 on 9555 after Vietnam; 1259 on 9650 after KBS. O, Canada (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 25, after 1300:15560, poor at 1312

Before 1400:17450, JBA at 135916920, very poor with flutter at 135916100, very poor with flutter at 135915900, JBA at 135914700, very poor at 1359Started too late, unknown if any below 14 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA [non]. All the Sackville relays of CRI appear to have been canceled as of June 25: see CANADA. This leaves inferior signals via CUBA, ALBANIA, SPAIN intended for us, plus numerous off-beam broadcasts direct.

13740, June 25 at 1401 no signal tho RHC is big on 13780. CRI English finally cuts on late at *1402 JIP news with undermodulation, hum, lo-fi audio. Sometimes this transmitter is warming up already by 1350 with open carrier. This 14-16 relay and equally defective 13-14 on 9570 are all that`s left for CRI English in the morning to us. Whatever became of the new transmitters China was installing in Cuba? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 14950, June 25 at 0113 I have set up my 87.85 MHz feeder with Salem Stereo programming in order to compare its delay with the SW relay tuned on the porch --- but no signal at all heard now, at 0119, or later. Is it gone for good? If so, we got it identified just in time. I did find a JBA carrier on 14885, not necessarily from any broadcaster. Timechex on the webcast only 3 minutes fast now. My nearest streetlight as it flickers on is still blasting RF at *0205 but only briefly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CUBA. Another UT Monday, and another week with the DentroCuban Jamming Command ignoring the truce offered by R. Martí`s silent period at 0300-0900: still wall-of-noise jamming at 0511 on 6030, 0516 on 7405. Not exactly ``against nothing`` on 6030, as this impossiblizes any DX from Calgary, Central African Republic, or Ethiopia. Tnx a lot, Arnie! While Cubans go hungry as all this electrical expense is wasted (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA [non]

** MEXICO. 6185, June 25 at 0203, XEPPM with good modulation for a change and no ACI from either side; talking about Turquía, Malta (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** NIGERIA. 15115-15120-15125, Sunday June 24 at 1951, with BFO on, can detect DRM here from VON; have they expanded to 7 days a week now? Tho useless to all but a few enthusiasts, and more with take-it-or-leave it capability (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 13570, June 25 at 1257, 1310, no signal from WINB with Brother Scare, but audible poorly at next check 1404. Propagation degraded, so maybe it was really on from 1200, but I doubt it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** USTRALIA. See AUSTRALIA

UNIDENTIFIED. 6045, June 25 at 0509-0512, a JBA carrier. Looking for reactivated R. Sarandí, Uruguay, which Horacio Nigro says is 24 hours with 300 watts on LSB. But is there any reduced carrier? They are hearing it well in Argentina, and even Bryan Clark in NZ is pulling it in. The only other possibility at this hour would be Zimbabwe, also supposedly 24 hours, but sunrise there is around 0430 now.

Don`t you believe Aoki and EiBi listings for XEXQ on 6045, long inactive. Huge problem for us here is the bigsig from Habana on 6050; but those awake should try after 0700 when that`s off and so is Korea/Canada 6045. While you`re at it, check 6075+ for LV de Artigas, also active from Uruguay (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 24, before 1200:14700, good at 115814950, fair at 1158-1200*

Before 1300:13920, good at 1237; none in the 12s14700, very good at 124015555, very good at 124215780, very good at 1241, way over 15775 VOA Korean Tinang USward16100, very good at 124416920, very good at 124417450, JBA at 1245

After 1300:15555, good at 1304; the only one still on past hourtop(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** COLOMBIA. 14950.7, June 24 at 0058, another try at the station previously filed under UNIDENTIFIED. Much better signal than before! Peaks at 6 bars on the DX-398 instead of the usual zero, maybe 1. As I tune in, again mentioning ``Ciudad de Pasto`` with a phone number.

0059, plug for Cristo, 0100 Mexican music.

0107, music segué, lyric includes ``la salvación``, quote from Isaías, YL timecheck, more music

0113, announcement includes ``ellos no pueden esperar``, song.

0117, Bible quote, then timecheck in a different format by YL only, ``---- Estéreo informa la hora: 8 de la noche, 22 minutos``. But she`s still 5 minutes fast! Unfortunately the canned IDs are somewhat muffled, harder to copy than the music. And now it`s weakening.

0121 quoting another Bible versículo, timecheck, weaker still.

On the Pasto lead I had researched all the radio stations there, starting with AM. There are only a few, with the best bet being per WRTH on 1250, Radio Vida/Radio María. I later got their webcast to work and it did not have this religious element.

The official Colombian government station list is here:http://www.mintic.gov.co/images/documentos/radio_difusion_sonora/listado_emisoras.xlsIn three different categories. Once I heard ``stereo`` I knew the originating station was very likely FM, not AM. Again there are only a few possibilities in Pasto, all with webcasts: Tropicana Estéreo 97.1, certainly not the right format; Amor Estéreo 94.1, but that`s RCN and 14950 is local; Romántica Stereo 88.1 HJU86 looks promising, as licensee is the Cooperativa de Trabajo Asociado Arca de Noé, implying religious connexion with Noah`s Ark, but it sounds secular too.

I`m running this on my FM feeder 87.85 MHz as I resume monitoring 14950 on the porch at 0158. Switching back and forth, no match.

0202, announcement about something with dates in junio.

0205, the street light photocell again fires up the arc starting with a big RF blast on SW. This is the current dusk time with a clear sky.

0205 another automated timecheck, 0210 announcement, 0214 fading and I quit. Final recheck at 0343 to find it gone, probably off much earlier.

Meanwhile I check one more Pasto station, R. Capital Pasto, 104.1, which despite the seemingly secular name is obviously religious from its Facebook, but again the announcements and music style don`t fit.

Another check in the morning June 24: at 1158 Firedrake is dominating 14950, off at 1200, with JBA signal uncovered maybe from Colombia, but now one of my DTV cable boxes has decided to vary to this frequency with its bubble-jamming, still at 1224.

So nothing fits for Pasto. Since 14950 is obviously piratical, maybe the FM station is too, and not in the official lists? No, Pasto turns out to be a mislead. Fortunately, I need pursue this no longer, as Henrik Klemetz reports:

``Thanks to Torolf Johnsson, of Stockholm, for providing two good audio files. The programming heard on 14950.6 is that of Salem Stéreo, which operates on 106.5 FM from Rioblanco, Tolima, Colombia. I am inclined to believe that the SW frequency is being operated by some local or semilocal ham. Pasto is mentioned in an ad as the home town of Freddy Noguera, who is co-hosting a youth meeting June 26-26 [sic].``

Format matches checked at 1511 UT with timecheck only 2 minutes fast. ID is pronounced ``Salén Estéreo``. I would not rule out possibility that other times in past and future, 14950 may relay some other station. And since Salem Stereo does webcast, the relay really could be anywhere, unless 14950 is suitably ahead of the webcast delay.

** GERMANY. 7265, Sunday June 24 at 0459 past 0500, no signal from Hamburger Lokalradio, just North American SSB hams in their Field Day frenzy, overfilling the bands once a year; they were even atop Vatican on 7250. Thomas Voelkner had tipped us that HLR would be on today, including a special airing of WORLD OF RADIO at 0630. Aoki shows it`s only 1 kW, 230 degrees from Bremen, starting this early only on Sat & Sun (but not always?), so how was reception in Europe for WOR?

Noel Green, Blackpool, England reports: ``Hello Glenn, Yes, WOR was heard on 7265 today (24th) at tune in around 0635 till close at 0800. Their signal was varying from nil on the meter with surges up to 9, but mostly about S2. That's not strong enough to over-ride my local noise level and so I missed hearing clearly some of the programme. But, I hope they will do it again another weekend`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** KUWAIT. 15540, June 23 at 1809 check, R. Kuwait is in Arabic intonations, not Qur`an recitation, then into English translation, fair signal. So it`s the regular Islamic-evangelism show, not default to total Arabic today; fair signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9990, Saturday June 23 at 1730, no signal from WTWW-2 despite advance publicity from Ted Randall that he would be doing a live show from Field Day near Nashville at 12-6 pm (=17-23 UT). Next check at 1745 it was on with music; 1815 a live interview and onward for at least two hours, alternating with classic rock/country. Meanwhile after 1800, his pre-recorded regular QSO show was airing on WTWW-1 9479.

12105, June 23 at 1813, noticed that WTWW-3 was in Arabic, which is normally heard from *1400, but now with piano music background, so not Arabible? I don`t think languages they really broadcast have ever matched the nominal schedule on website:

Note the time conversions are for MDT/CST, not CDT. And not really on the air between 0500 and 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9980, June 23 at 1910 I notice that WWCR-4 is off early, so no competition for 9990 WTWW; but June 24 at early 1223, I notice that 9980 is on with ``The Last Radio Program``, VG signal, Alun(sp?) giving his e-mail address. This show does not appear anywhere on the WWCR program schedule.

So they are messing with the schedule again. According to their own PDF program schedule dated June 4, on Saturdays, 9980 goes off at 2000 after BS; Sunday sign-on not until 1400 with more BS. Don`t you believe it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 12050, June 23 at 2028, open carrier/dead air from WEWN Spanish, while 13830 is crackly. 7555, June 24 at 0501 and still 0511, no signal from WEWN Spanish which is missing a lot, but not every night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A [non]. 17605, June 24 at 1306, good signal in Burmese from YFR, so presumed still on substitute site Grigoriopol/Kishinov, Pridnestrovye/Moldova, instead of originally scheduled Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ZIMBABWE [non]. 9870, June 24 at 0453, African language with distortion; I remember that Saudi Arabia, Iran and India use this frequency, but it`s none of those now. Aoki shows:

So apparently the 50 kW Madagascar transmitter has its problems. I don`t think it was jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 15725, June 24 at 0510, music with very poor signal, 0511 YL maybe in Urdu; 0517 intonation sounded more like English, then music. The choices are: R. Pakistan, and V. of South Sudan Revolutionary Radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

domenica 24 giugno 2012

** CANADA. 6110, June 23 Sackville does not turn on the NHK World R. Japan relay in English until the opening minute is almost over, *0500:40. I was getting worried (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, June 22 at 1917 no signal from R. Africa (nor Philippines, nor Brasil). Last log I`ve seen for it was June 15, altho I had not logged it since June 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

1803 on 2, convoluted bug in UR I have not seen before; looks like a large lower-case a with other stuff overlain; maybe Cristina or similar talkshow, Televisa closing credit, then Televisa Música with a video

** U S A. 17530, June 22 at 1919, big open carrier, atop station in French, ergo it`s VOA vs VOA! At 1930, São Tomé hands 17530 over to Greenville for continuation of French, but GB is already on. It should be warming up on some open nearby frequency instead, as is often the case. I don`t blame GB but IBB HQ for scheduling such an unnecessary site swap in the middle of a transmission and failing to assure there will not be such overlaps (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** VATICAN [non]. 15470, June 23 at 0143, VR IS on VG signal via BONAIRE; 0145 opening Spanish again. I think they run the same half-sesquihour twice at 0100 & 0145. VR says their Portuguese service preceding at 0030 will continue past July 1, but I haven`t found a similar statement about Spanish.

13765, June 23 at 0515, VR in African English, this time with a mosquito-like buzz/whine of slightly varying pitch. Is due west from Madagascar; I remain uncertain whether this is self-inflicted. Has anyone noticed such on other relays from there?

13730, June 23 at 1210, VR in English, what was suspected to be the final one via Sackville, since there`s no English on Sundays, but now it seems post-RCI, the site may keep some other relays going for a while longer. We`ll see on Monday. Story about PBXVI being concerned about the growth of non-Catholic sects in Latin America, pentecostal and evangelical; solution: be better ``Christians``.

At 1213 announcement that as of July 1, this transmission will no longer be audible in Europe on MW, or in America on SW, but still on internet. Off at 1214* without any IS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

UNIDENTIFIED. 14950.7, June 22 at first check 2311, JBA signal from the mystery LA station, so I`ll get back to it later as TVDX from Mexico is still incoming.

June 23 at 0040, can hear some music, unseems religious but maybe Mexican; 0045 it`s a JBA carrier; 0054 announcement.

I find slightly better reception on the porch with the DX-398 and a few meters of wire, than on the FRG-7 in the shack with much longer wire.

0054 announcement, maybe sermon past 0100, mentions Satanás at 0103.

0122 is no better so I quit for a while again. Annoying regular noise bursts from some local source at the rate of 90/minute.

From 0159 I start recording some of the peaks when there are announcements. Now it`s Mexican style but it`s also religious music mentioning ``oración``; 0200 announcement, 0201 timecheck ending ``6 minutos``, more music.

0205-0206 as I am recording again, announcement interrupted by street light firing initially with a large RF burst, but noise level then settles back down, by when music has resumed.

More announcements at 0209, 0214, nothing copiable.

Around 0220 I hear that very weak het again, likely Firedrake starting up on 14950 even.

0224 music peaks stronger, unseems religious or Mexican.

0225 YL timecheck for 9:29, so 4 minutes fast: OM voice says ``La hora exacta en --- (fade)``, YL voice says automatically, ``9 de la noche, 29 minutos``. That`s the UT-5 zone, same as here, and also: México, Panamá, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú – one of those. The sporadic E into VHF might be boosting this a bit, but on HF the geographic span affected is much broader than on VHF, so not necessarily Mexico.

venerdì 22 giugno 2012

** ANTARCTICA [non]. As I expected, hardly any signal making it way out here from the UK or Ascension for the BAS annual special June 21 at 2130-2200, but we were glad to give it wide advance publicity for a few more listeners besides the 44 Antarcticans.

At 2130, JBA carrier on 9850 UK, nothing on 7360 ASC; by 2145, 7360 had also acquired a JBA carrier, and of course never anything on 5950. But it was widely heard further east in North America, and no doubt very well in Eurafrica, South America, and perhaps Antarctica. Anyhow, this and previous years` programmes may now be heard easily via:http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2012/06/120620_antarctic_midwinter_broadcast_2012.shtmlwith the new one autolaunching if you are plugged in correctly. I`ve just enjoyed listening to it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** ARMENIA. 18121-USB, June 21 at 2137, ham EK6TA was 5&9 giving his call several times fonetikally. I never can remember these CIS E-prefixes, so pleased to look him up later in QRZ.com as:EK6TA Armenia, Hovik Tarzyan, Artik, QSL direct via DJ0MCZ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CANADA. 9625, June 22 at 1329, CBC NQ in English with interview, but hard to copy with somewhat muffled usual undermodulation, despite only slight CCI from occasional fast SAH; 1330 CBC regional news, from where?

HFCC listings for RCI athttp://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=RCInow show all its transmissions terminating June 24 (except for its relays via South Korea, surely an oversight), but CBCNQ on 9625 is still shown lasting until Oct 28. We hope so, but don`t read too much into this, since Oct 28 is the default end-of-season A-12 date in HFCC listings, also shown for many stations which have no real intention of using a frequency until then. And all the Sackville relays of CRI athttp://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=CRIare still shown in effect thru Oct 28, FWIW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHILE. 11880, June 21 at 2144, NHK in Portuguese, fair signal signing off? No, just concluding a program before usual dekasecond break in automation, which at 2145 would start `Enfoque de Rádio Japão`. This is 100 kW, 60 degrees from Calera de Tango near Santiago at 2130-2200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** CHINA. Firedrake June 22, after 1300:15555, fair until 1317* cutting off just as I tuned in; none lower16100, very good at 1318; none higher. Poor propagation today

** ECUADOR [non]. 12025, June 21 at 2143, Arabish announcement about Facebook, poor signal from Woofferton UK about to sign off, service starting at 2100 in Tachelhit from HCJB, except there are no such letters in Arabic. They`ll have to find some other solution in the B-season, than switching same frequency to Sackville as they have done for years, making for much better signal back here and supposedly in NW African target (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, June 21 at 1938, nothing heard from R. Africa, nor for the past few days at this or morning times. Are they gone again? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** MOROCCO [and non]. 15349, June 21 at 2140, no signal from IMM. I haven`t been paying much attention since it`s been keeping to itself on this off-frequency, but apparently signing off circa 2100 now with DST in effect from April 29* to Sept 30*, per timeanddate.com which does not explain what their a*terisks mean; during standard time it`s on until 2200. Resultantly, RAE on 15345 escaped any 4 kHz het; very weak but maybe French? No, listed German this hour weekdays. IMM is still operational, tho, this off-frequency carrier confirmed at 1450 UT June 22 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9385, June 22 at 0534, WWRB has once again failed to switch to night frequency 3185 for the Brother Scare End-of-World Service, VG S9+25 signal and nothing on 3185. Seems to happen about once a month. As often noted recently, TOM feed has a slight echo self-imposed upon it, certainly not long/short path. Compensating for this intrusion, 9330 WBCQ was missing, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 9330, June 22 at 0535, no signal from WBCQ which is summerly very good even in the nightmiddle; compensates for WWRB, q.v., using up 9385 when it`s supposed to be on 3185. Next check at 1247, WBCQ reduced carrier is on but no mod; then cuts on for a few words two or three times, and right back off. 1252 stays on with `Unshackled` closing plus organ music fill, 1254 plug for Quick Study Ministry, but with some breaks; 1310 still on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. Missing stations department: 11715v, no signal at all from KJES, June 22 at 1312, 1410, 1450 chex, including the hour when they have supposedly rotated the LP to send max signal right across Oklahoma, 70 degrees at 13-14. Nor has it been heard lately on 15385v during the 18-20 UT broadcast. Need to check the third scheduled frequency, 7555 at 0100-0230 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. 15610, June 21 at 1938, WEWN is back on the air, morning English frequency 15615 having been missing earlier today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1622 monitoring: Thursday June 21 at 2100, 9479 WTWW goes from SFAW feed to local ID, but WOR playback must have started at same time, as upcut to my opening already in progress after the ID. O, well. Puts in terrific uninterrupted signal for the rest of the show.

Next airing confirmed on 5050 WWRB, first checking convenient webcast, to hear again a healthy sesquiminute of respectful dead air after the SC preacher until 0329, WOR starting about 0330.5 UT Friday June 22. And well heard on 5050 itself at 0350 check.

UNIDENTIFIED. 14950.68 as measured by Brian Alexander, PA, tnx for this tip: ``0015-0025+, June 22, I'm hearing this unidentified station again with Spanish music. Very weak in noisy conditions at this time.`` He also heard it later past 0105.

So I tuned in at 0046 UT June 22 to find a weak signal with deep fades, but a few words readable occasionally at peaks. It`s carrier plus USB (less modulation but some also on LSB), but soon found it was really more readable in the AM mode on the DX-398. Immediately heard ``hoy ha venido la salvación``, and it`s definitely a religious station. 0049 hymnic harmonies; 0051 mentioned ``la luz``, more music. 0055 announcements past hourtop, but too weak to make anything out.

Unfortunately I had a date with the lawnmower, so had to suspend monitoring, but at 0137 brief recheck, it was in Spanish preaching, well worth more mowing. When I had finished the lawn at 0214, praise-music was playing, sounded like a child singing. A couple times including 0220 sounded like an automated timecheck by a YL, but couldn`t read it for a very good clue. Assertive OM informing us about pecados (sins). 0222 an even weaker het started, probably trace of Firedrake and/or Sound of Hope, on a typical frequency and start-time for them, 14950 even. 0226 Bible lesson.

I was torn between keeping listening or heading for the shower, escaping the mosquitos on the porch where I was monitoring to minimize household computer/TV noise, and/or getting POV on PBS taped, when the station solved that problem by cutting off the air abruptly at 0229:10*. It might have come back on, but I didn`t give it a chance. Toward the end the signal was a bit stronger than at first. For the record, I also checked semi-frequency 7475 around 0055 and it was definitely not // the music from Greece.

Surely from somewhere in Latin America. Perú has a history of unofficial out-of-band stations; remember there was one above 10 MHz several years ago. This is no hobby pirate, but a professional-sounding gospel huxter. I`m sure some IDs must have gone by during fades or while I was not monitoring. Next time!

Note: this religious format is at variance with the ``Mexican music`` several NASWA listeners reported the last time it was heard, UT June 17. This increases the possibility that it`s some pirate picking up and relaying different local stations. Should also look for it in our mornings, if Firedrake isn`t on the frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)